Conference organized by CSD Uppsala, April 24-25, 2012. 

Religious associations and communities are increasingly recognized as important social actors across the world. This belies common European assumptions of a universal development path of modernisation and secularisation, wherein religion becomes a privatised matter separate from the realms of politics and public civic culture. Instead, religious faith continues to be a force by which people mobilise around shared identities with spiritual as well as political objectives, sometimes creating vast networks that extend beyond and contest nation-state borders.

In this conference, we will discuss how to understand diverse faith-inspired actors, who not always fit neatly within liberal notions of civil society. When are they promoters of social change, democratisation and development, and how do their adherents envision such changes? We invite researchers, actors in international development cooperation, activists, and others with interest in the issues to participate and make presentations during the conference. Deadline for submission of abstracts is February 10, 2012.  Read more here.